In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths(Translation)
"And take that which the Messenger has brought you"
(the Holy Quran)
Translation of Imam An-Nawawi's Book

This is the book of the Islamic scholar Yahia bin
Sharaful-Deen An-Nawawi ( ). The book is now known as "An-Nawawi's
Forty Hadiths". This is a popular small book in which the author gathered
forty two of the sayings of prophet Muhammed salla Allah u alihi wa
sallam.

You could either jump to the hadith using the numbers, or scroll down.

INTRODUCTION

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Eternal Guardian of
the heavens
and the earths, Disposer of all created beings, Despatcher of Messengers
(may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all) who were sent to
those they have been entrusted to guide and to reveal the religious laws
to, with positive signs and clear-cut proofs. I praise Him for His favours
and ask Him to increase His grace and generosity. I bear witness that
there is no god but Allah alone, He having no associate, the One, the
Subduer, the Generous, the Pardoner, and I bear witness that our master
Muhammed is His servant and His messenger, His dear one and His beloved,
the best of created beings, who was honoured with the precious Quran, the
enduring miracle through the passing of the years, and with the sunnahs
that enlighten spiritual guides; our master Muhammed, singled out for
pithiness of speech and tolerance in religion may the blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him, upon the rest of the prophets and messengers, and upon
all their families and upon the rest of godly persons.

To proceed: It has been transmitted to us on the authority of Ali bin
Abi Talib, Abdullah bin Masud, Muadh bin Jabal, Abu Al-Darda, Ibn Omar, Ibn
Abbas, Anas bin Malik, Abu Hurairah and Abu Saeed Al-Khudri, may Allah be
pleased with them all, through many chains of authorities and in various
versions, that the messenger of Allah said: "Whosoever memorises and
preserves for my people forty hadith relating to their religion, Allah
will resurrect him on the Day of Judgment in the company of jurists and
religious scholars ".

In another version it reads: "Allah will resurrect him as a jurist
and religious scholar ". In the version of Abu Al-Darda it reads: "On the
Day of Judgment I shall be an intercessor and a witness for him". In the
version of Ibn Masud it reads: "It will be said to him: Enter by
whichever of the doors of Paradise you wish ". In the version of Ibn
Omar it reads: " He will be written down in the company of the
religious
scholars and will be resurrected in the company of the martyrs ". Scholars
of hadith are agreed that it is a weak hadith despite its many lines of
transmission.

The religious scholars, may Allah be pleased with them,
have composed innumerable works in this field. The first one I knew of
who did so was Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, followed by Ibn Aslam Al-Tusi, the
godly scholar, then Al-Hasan bin Sufiyan Al-Nasai, Abu Bakr Al-Ajurri,
Abu-Bakr Mubammad bin Ibrahim Al-Asfihani, Al-Daraqutni, Al-Hakim, Abu
Nuaim, Abu Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sulami, Abu Saeed Al-Malini, Abu Uthman Al-Saboni,
Abdullah bin Muhammed Al-Ansari, Abu Bakr Al-Baihaqi, and countless others,
both ancient and modern.

I have asked Allah Almightly for guidance in bringing together forty
hadith in emulation af those eminant religious leaders and guardians of
Islam. Religious scholars are agreed it is permissible to put into practice
a weak hadith if virtuous deeds are concerned; despite this, I do not
rely on this hadith but on his having said the [ following ] sound hadith:
"Let him who was a witness among you inform him who was absent",
and on his having said : "May Allah make radiant [the face of] someone who has
heard what I have said, has
learnt it by heart and has transmitted it as he heard it". Furthermore,
there were some religious scholars who brought together forty hadiths on
the basic rules of religion, on subsidiary matters, or on jihad, while
others did so on asceticism, on rules of conduct or on sermons. All these
are godly aims-may Allah be pleased with those who pursued them. I,
however, considered it best to bring together forty hadith more important
than all of these, being forty hadith which would incolporate all of
these, each hadith being one of the great precepts of religion, described
by religious scholars as being "the axis of Islam " or "the half of Islam"
or "the third of it ", or the like, and to make it a rule that these
forty hadith be [classified as] sound and that the majority of them be
in the sahihs of Al-Bukhari and Muslim. I give them without the chains of
authorities so as to make it easier to memorise them and to make them
of wider benefit if Allah Almighty wills, and I append to them a section
explaining abstruse expressions.(Note here) every person wishing to
attain the Hereafter should know these hadith because of the important
matters they contain and the directions they give in respect of all forms
of obedience, this being obvious to anyone who has reflected upon it. On
Allah do I rely and depend and to Him do I entrust myself; to Him be
praise and grace, and with Him is success and immunity [to errors].

On the authority of Omar bin Al-Khattab, who said : I heared the
messenger of Allah salla Allah u alihi wa sallam say :

"Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which
he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his
migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was
to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his
migration was for that for which he migrated."

One day while we were sitting with the messenger of Allah there appeared
before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was
exceedingly black;
no signs of journeying were to be seen on him and none of us knew him. He
walked up and sat down by the prophet. Resting his knees against his and
placing the palms of his hands on his thighs, he said:"O Muhammed, tell me about Islam".
The messenger of Allah said: "Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and
Muhammed is the messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakat,
to fast in Ramadhan, and to make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to do
so." He said:"You have spoken rightly", and we were amazed at him asking
him and saying that he had spoken rightly. He said: "Then tell me about
eman."He said:"It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the
good and the evil thereof." He said:"You have spoken rightly". He said: "
Then tell me about ehsan." He said: "It is to worship Allah as
though you are seeing Him, and while you see Him not yet truly He sees
you". He said: "Then tell me about the Hour". He said: "The one
questioned about it knows no better than the questioner." He said: "Then
tell me about its
signs." He said: "That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and
that you will see the barefooted, naked, destitute herdsman competing in
constructing lofty buildings." Then he took himself off and I stayed for a
time. Then he said: "O Omar, do you know who the questioner was?" I
said: "Allah and His messenger know best". He said: "He was Jebreel
(Gabriel), who came to you to teach you your religion."

On the authority of Ibn Omar, the son of Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah
be pleased with both, who said : I heared the messenger of Allah say
:

"Islam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no
god but Allah and that Muhammed is the messenger of Allah, performing
the prayers, paying the zakat, making the pilgrimage to the House, and
fasting in Ramadan."

On the authority of Abdullah bin Masud, who said : the messenger of
Allah, and he is the truthful, the believed narrated to us :

p
"Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother's
belly for forty days in the form of seed, then he is a clot of blood for
a like period, then a morsel of flesh for a like period, then there is
sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him and who is
commanded about four matters: to write down his means of livelihood, his
life span, his actions, and whether happy or unhappy. By Allah, other
than Whom there is no god, verily one of you behaves like the people of
Paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that
which has been written over takes him and so he behaves like the people
of Hell-fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the
people of Hell-fire until there is but an arm's length between him and it,
and that which has been written over takes him and so he behaves like the
people of Paradise and thus he enters it."

On the authority of Al-Numan bin Basheer, who said : I heared the
messenger of Allah say :

"That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and
between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people
know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his
religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into
that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary,
all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah's
sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh
which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be
diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart."

p
"I have been ordered to fight against people until they testify that
there is no god but Allah and that Muhammed is the messenger of Allah
and until they perform the prayers and pay the zakat, and if they do so
they will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless
[they do acts that are punishable] in accordance with Islam, and their
reckoning will be with Allah the Almighty."

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said : I heared the messenger of
Allah say :

"What I have forbidden to you, avoid; what I have ordered you [to do],
do as much of it as you can. It was only their excessive questioning and
their disagreeing with their prophets that destroyed those who were
before you."

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said : the messenger of Allah said :

p
"Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only that which is good. Allah
has commanded the faithful to do that which he commanded the messengers,
and the Almighty has said: "O ye messengers ! Eat of the good things and
do right". And Allah the Almighty has said : "O ye who believe! Eat of
the good things wherewith We have provided you"
Then he mentioned [the case of] a man who, having journeyed far, is
dishevelled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky [saying] :
"O Lord! O Lord!" - while his food is unlawful, his drink unlawful, his
clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can he be
answered !"

"The blood of a Muslim may not be legally spilt other than in one of three
[instances] : the married person who commits adultery; a life for a
life; and one who forsakes his religion and abandons the community."

"Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or
keep silent, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous
to his neighbour, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be
generous to his guest."

"Verily Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things. Thus, if you
kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you
sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he
slaughters."

On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, who said : One day I was behind
the prophet and he said to me:

"Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of
Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will
find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help,
seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to
benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something
that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together
to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah
had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages
have dried."

p
narrated by Termithi, who said it is true and fine hadith

In a version other than that of Tirmithi it reads:

p
"..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah
in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has
passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen
you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with
patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."

p
A man asked the messenger of Allah :
"Do you think that if I perform the obligatory prayers, fast in Ramadan,
treat as lawful that which is lawful and treat as forbidden that which is
forbidden, and do nothing further, I shall enter Paradise ?"
He said: "Yes."

On the authority of Abu Malik Al-Harith bin Asim Al-Ashari said that the
messenger of Allah said:

"Purity is half of faith. alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah]
fills the scales, and subhana-Allah [How far is Allah from every
imperfection] and
alhamdu-lillah [Praise be to Allah] fill that which is between
heaven and earth. Prayer is light; charity is a proof; patience is
illumination; and the
Quran is an argument for or against you. Everyone starts his day and is a
vendor of his soul, either freeing it or bringing about its ruin."

On the authority of Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari, of the prophet is that among the
sayings he relates from his Lord is that He said:

p
"O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it
forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.

O My servants, all
of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me
and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for
those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants,
all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing
of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day,
and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive
you.

O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you
will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O my servants, were the
first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to
become as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that
would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first
of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as
wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not
decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and
the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one
place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he
requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle
decreases the sea if put into it.

O My servants, it is but your deeds
that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who
finds good praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that blame no
one but himself."

p
Some of the companions of the messenger of Allah said :" O
Messenger of Allah, the affluent have made of with the rewards, they
pray as we pray they fast as we fast, and they give away in charity the
superfluity of their wealth." He said:" Has not Allah made things for
you
to give away in charity ? every tasbihah is a charity, every takbirah is
a charity, every tahmidah is a charity, and every tahlilah is a charity,
to enjoin a good action is a charity, to forbid an evil action is a charity,
and in the sexual act of each of you there is a charity." They said: "O
Messenger of Allah, when one of us fulfils his
sexual desire will he have some reward for that?" He said: "Do you not
think that were he to act upon it unlawfully he would be sinning ?
Likewise, if he has acted upon it lawfully he will have a reward."

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said: The messenger of Allah
said :

p
"Each person's every joint must perform a charity every day the sun
comes up : to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with
his mount, lifting him onto it or hoistingd up his belongings onto it is
a charity: a good word is a charity, every step you take to prayers is a
charity and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity."

And on the authority of Wabisa bin Mabad, may Allah be pleased with
him, who said:

p
I came to the messenger of Allah and he said: "You have come to ask about
righteousness ?" . I said:" Yes." He said: "Consult your heart.
Righteousness is that about which the soul feels tranquil and the heart
feels tranquil, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and moves
to and from in the breast even though people again and again have given
you their legal opinion [in its favor]."

p
a good hadith transmetted from the Musnads of the
two Imams, Ahmed bin Hanbal and Al-Darimi, with a good chain of
authorities.

p
The messenger of Allah gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled
with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: "O Messenger of Allah, it
is as though this is a farewell sermon, so councel us." He said: "I
councel you to fear Allah and to give absolute obedience even if a slave
becomes your leader. Verily he among you who lives [long] will see
great controversy, so you must keep to my sunnah and to the sunnah of
the rightly-guided Khalifahs - cling to them stubbornly. Beware of newly
invented matters, for every invented matter is an innovation and every
innovation is a going astray, and every going astray is in
Hell-fire."

p
related by Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmithi, who said that it was a fine
and true Hadith.

p
I said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me of an act which will take me into
Paradise and will keep me away from Hell fire." He said: "You have asked me
about a major matter, yet it is easy for him for whom Allah Almighty makes
it easy. You should worship Allah, associating nothing with Him, you
should perform the prayers, you should pay the zakat, you should fast in
Ramadan, and you should make the pilgrimage to the House." Then he said:"
Shall I not show you the gates of goodness ? Fasting [which] is a shield,
charity [which] extigueshes sin as water extebgueshes fire; and the
praying of a man in the deapth of night." Then he recited :

"Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope,
and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knoweth what is kept hid for
them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do". (quran, verse)

Then he said: " Shall I not tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its
topmost part?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He
said: "The peak of the matter is Islam; the pillar is prayer; and its
topmost part is jihad." Then he said: "Shall I not tell you of the
controling of all that ?" I said:"Yes, O Messenger of Allah", and he took
hold of his tongue and said: "Restrain this." I said: "O Prophet of Allah,
will what
we say be held against us ?" He said: "May your mother be bereaved of you,
Muadh ! Is there anything that topples people on their faces - or he said
on their noses into Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues
?"

On the authority of Jurthum bin Nashir that the messenger of Allah
said :

p
"Allah the Almighty has laid down religious duties, so do not neglict them.
He has set boundaries, so do not over step them. He has prohibited some
things, so do not violate them; about some things He was silent-out of
compassion for you, not forgetfulness, so seek not after them."

p
A man came to the prophet and said: "O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an
act which, if I do it, [will cause] Allah to love me and people to love
me." He said: "Renounce the world and Allah will love you, and renounce what
people possess and people will love you."

p
a fine Hadith related by Ibn Majah and others with good chains of authorities.

p
"Were people to be given in accordance with their claim, men would claim
the fortunes and lives of [other] people, but the onus of proof is
on the claimant, and the taking of an oath is incumbent upon him who
denies."

On the authority of Abu Saeed Al-Khurdari, who said: I heard
the messenger of Allah say:

p
"Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand;
and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not
able to do so, then with his heart; and that is the weakest of
faith."

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said : the messenger of Allah
said :

p
"Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices one to another; do not hate
one another; do not turn away from one another; and do not undercut one
another, but be you, O servants of Allah, brothers. A muslim is the brother
of a muslim: he neither oppresses him nor does he fail him, he neither
lies to him nor does he hold him in contempt. Piety is right here-and he
pointed to his breast three times. It is evil enough for a man to hold
his brother muslim in contempt. The whole of a muslim for another muslim
is inviolable: his blood, his property, and his honor."

p
"Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from
him one of the griefs of the Day of Judgment. Whosoever alleviates [the
lot of] a needy person, Allah will alleviate [his lot] in this world
and the
next. Whosoever shields a Muslim, Allah will shield him in this world
and the next. Allah will aid a servant [of His] so long as the servant
aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein,
Allah will
make easy for him a path to Paradise. No people gather together
in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it
among
themselves, without tranquility descending upon them, mercy enveloping them,
the angels surrounding them, and Allah making mention of them amongst those
who are with Him. Whosoever is slowed down by his actions will not be
hastened forward by his lineage."

On the authority of Ibn Abbas that the messenger of Allah, among the
sayings he relates from his Lord is :

p
"Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones." Then he explained
it [by saying that] :" He who has intended a good deed and has not done
it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has
intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from
ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has
intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a
full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes
it down as one bad deed."

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said: the messenger of Allah
said:

p
Allah the Almighty has said: "Who soever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I
shall be at war with him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything
more loved by Me than the religious duties I have imposed upon him, and
My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I
shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his
seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot
with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely
give it to him and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him
it."

On the authority of Anas, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah
say:

p
Allah the Almighty has said: "O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me
and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall
not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and
were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam,
were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were
you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you
forgiveness nearly as great as its."

related by Al-Tirmithi, who said that it was a good and sound
Hadith.

This is an unauthorized modified version of an English translation of
the book. The original English translation was published by :
the International Islamic Federation of Students Organizations
translated by Ezzeddin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davies